


Twist, Twirl, Dance, Clap

by Resacon1990



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Bilbo Blushes A Lot, Dancing, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Everyone ships Bagginshield, Fluff, M/M, Slow Dancing, Thorin Smiles A Lot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 04:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3276818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resacon1990/pseuds/Resacon1990
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Master Baggins," Fili begins again after smacking Kili over the back of the head, and the dwarf snorts before falling silent. "I was wondering if you knew much about any dwarven dances?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twist, Twirl, Dance, Clap

**Author's Note:**

  * For [achildofyavanna (Minionfromthedark)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minionfromthedark/gifts).



> For my lovely, This is dedicated to [thorin-wiggles](http://thorin-wiggles.com/), who asked for a cute dancing fic with Bilbo standing on Thorin's feet! I hope you love it, my dear!

Traveling with dwarves, whilst not a common and really _practical_ thing for Bilbo Baggins, does have its merits. Ever since he was young Bilbo has always had a slight fascination with other races, specifically elves and sometimes humans. He's always considered them to be oddities and he's found that to him strange creatures that have funny cultures are both confusing and attractive. But Bilbo has never considered even looking at dwarves, never mind even thinking that they have turned out to be the most interesting of them all.

Although being surrounded by thirteen day in and day out has made Bilbo very aware of their culture, of their habits and actions, and he's found himself more intrigued by them. Even more so than the glorious presence of elves and harsh existence of humans. Dwarves appear greedy at first, small humans with ideas of naught but large wealth and power, and Bilbo had hated them at first for their ways.

Soon though, he'd realised how wrong he was. They are greedy yes, but greedy for more than gold and riches. They look more for the loyalty and friendship of others. He's seen them all be willing to risk their lives for another of the Company and all of them get along with barely any vicious fights. Only playful ones like the ones Fili and Kili participate in one a regular basis. Their culture is so different to what Bilbo had read in history books and texts, and Bilbo believes it can be summed it down to them being torn from their homes. It's lead to them to trust each other more, to become free wanderers, and it has placed more emphasis on the importance of each other rather than material things.

Maybe hobbits should be taught the same things.

He's sat around the fire many a night watching all thirteen as they've begun some new activity together. Sometimes it's a simple sword-fight. Just some sparring before bed to both wear themselves out and perfect their skills at the same time. Sometimes it's story telling with them all cheerfully offering a tale or grounding one out on the stubs of their teeth as they speak of the old days before Smaug. He's watched as they all participate in skinning animals for their food, as they share pipes and laughs. He's seen Fili and Kili entertain them with some ridiculous act, listened to Ori as he reads from one of his books on the history and facts of other races. They sharpen and perfect their weapons together, they bathe and play like children, they sing and chorus out words of times ahead and times in the past. A few times he's even watched as they all settle down around the campfire and braid their own or another's hair. There's even been a time where he was completely caught up in watching Fili's fingers dance over his brothers hair that he'd not noticed anything around him for a long time. It'd been enrapturing, compelling, and he'd realised then just how wonderful and delicate their culture was as well as tough and harsh.

But he's never realised that there are more to dwarves than even _that_.

"Excuse me, Master Baggins," Fili's voice trails over to him from where Bilbo's perched on a log, completely hypnotized by the way that Thorin is braiding his hair into such wonderful lines and curves. He's fascinated by those fingers as they dance over Thorin's hair, sliding through it and tugging it together.

He's promptly shoved off his log.

"Kili! Don't do that!" he instantly reprimands, glaring up at the giggling dwarf. Fili shoots his brother a dark look, but Bilbo sees the way his lips curve slightly in amusement. 

"Master Baggins," Fili begins again after smacking Kili over the back of the head, and the dwarf snorts before falling silent. "I was wondering if you knew much about any dwarven dances?"

Bilbo swears that one could hear a pin drop in the silence as all eyes, thirteen dwarven and one wizard, turned to look at him. With a small blush on his cheeks, he looks down at the ground to ring his hands together as he slowly shakes his head. Suddenly loud cheers are echoing around the campfire and he glances up in time to see both Bifur and Bombur lunge for their packs and begin rattling around until they pull out a flute and violin respectively. Nori fetches some spoons from Bombur's pack as well and settles between the two Ur's as they begin to tune their instruments. Bilbo is a little surprised, he knows they can play music very well, after all he has heard it a few times, but the sudden excitement running through the camp is a bit different than normal.

"Please, Uncle!" Fili and Kili's voices plead, and he glances up in time to see Thorin quirking an eyebrow in their direction from his position on his rock. "Please let us dance!"

There's a tense silence, and Bilbo frowns until he sees all dwarves with their eyes on Thorin, as if waiting for an affirmative. He realizes that is probably exactly what they're waiting for after all Thorin is their leader. Thorin sits still though, his dark eyes wandering over all of their faces as if analyzing them, before his gaze falls on Bilbo who blushes and swallows a rather large lump in his throat.

"On one condition," the dwarven king speaks up, and Bilbo adamantly denies that Thorin's voice does anything to him like send _chills_ down his spine, "teach the hobbit."

Cheers go around the camp fire again, and Bilbo is surprised to hear Bifur, Bombur and Nori begin to strike up a jaunty tune. Then suddenly Fili is yanking him to his feet and dragging him around to the campfire, grinning madly as he avoids bumping them both into others.

"Start clapping, Bilbo!" he calls as he starts to do just that. Bilbo mimics the action and begins to clap in time with Fili. He hears more clapping beginning to echo around him and he wants to turn to look but he's stopped by Fili suddenly moving. He circles Bilbo like a warg would it's prey, and Bilbo feels his back stiffen before Fili lets out a laugh and begins to twirl, twirl and twist around Bilbo until he nudges him and Bilbo slowly joins in.

Everything flashes by in a blur as he circles Fili, hands still clapping in time with the arranged beat, his feet pounding the ground in timing and he can hear the dwarves laughter as he swings around. His eyes slide closed as the simple actions become automatic, _clap clap twist twirl clap clap twist clap_. 

"You're doing beautifully, Bilbo!" Kili bellows over the music, and Bilbo cracks open an eye to see Kili grinning at him as he spins and twirls around his uncle. Their hands are joined in the middle as they twist and turn themselves, their hand beating their thighs madly as they bounce around each other.

Bilbo is stunned by Thorin, unable to tear his eyes away from the dwarf kings movements and he can't help but watch Thorin as he swings around his nephew, a genuine grin on his face and delighted laughter on his lips.

It's no surprise when he slips and crashes to the ground, causing laughter from the others, and he quickly batters away Fili's hands as he returned to his log fully content to just watch for a while. 

Nori's dropped his spoons and entered the fray with a laughing Bofur all but running circles around him as he claps and twirls and _dances_. Meanwhile Dori is dragging Gloin around, hands clasped together as they pound the ground with their boots and laugh madly. Bombur and Bifur are tapping their own feet in time with the beat they cause as their hands fly across their instruments, and Bifur's cheeks are slightly red from breathing so little. Fili and Kili are dancing around their uncle while he taps out the tune for them, and Thorin is grinning as he watches them slide and spin around him. Bilbo smiles in delight when the boys place their hands on Thorin's shoulders to boost themselves up into small air kicks and their hands fly forwards to clasp together for a twirl before continuing to bounce around Thorin. Balin is clearly trying to outdo Dwalin in some sort of dance off, consisting mostly of shaking fists and huge grins, but their bodies still sway to the beat of the music. Not as much as Ori though who is giggling uncontrollably as Gandalf spins him, twisting him under his arm and dancing much like the hobbits in the Shire with both hands clasped as they swing in and out of close proximity to each other.

Bilbo feels another grin take over his face as he watches the dwarves _relax_ , and then suddenly hands are on his as he's yanked back by Bofur who grins and grabs his waist and hand. He twirls them both to the middle of the allocated dance-floor as the tempo begins to lift and Bilbo sees the others slide into couples and do the same, the sight of Thorin swinging the giggling Ori around is too precious to ever forget.

Then suddenly the tempo is much faster, and he's swung off until he finds himself crashing into Dwalin's arms who laughs and taps the side of their hips together before twirling him once then twice before letting go, and then he's with Nori who twists, spins, dances and flicks him off to Kili who grins and dances a circle with him before suddenly Balin is grinning at him, followed by Ori and then Dori and suddenly he too is laughing as the tempo raises another notch to get faster and faster and he simply _twirls and twists and spins and moves_ between all the dwarves who's cheeks are all flushed with excitement and eyes dance with joy. Even though he's spending more time being _thrown_ between everyone, Bilbo feels himself beginning to swell in happiness as he's passed from hand to hand, dwarf to dwarf, and he giggles when Fili kisses his cheek as he swings past him, as Gloin ruffles his hair, Bifur and Bombur offer winks as he flies past in the arms of Bofur again and he laughs as he crashes into Gandalf's chest, falling into a familiar hobbit like dance with the other before he's thrown away on to Dwalin and the others after him.

His breath has all but left him though when the music abruptly stops for a moment, leaving him able to clear his head and see none other than Thorin looking down at him with a quirked eyebrow, a smile playing with the corners of his lips and Bilbo futilely tries to push aside a blush. He's shocked when it all but explodes out on his body as Thorin subtly nudges his hand under Bilbo's elbow to settle onto Bilbo's waist, the other coming up to grasp his hand. Bilbo takes a brief moment to stare with a dumbfounded expression at Thorin, completely taken by this lovely dwarf holding him so very very close, and he ends up looking away when Thorin smiles rather slyly. 

He's a little stunned to see Gandalf sitting beside Bombur and Bifur, a lute in hand with a wink for Bilbo, and the rest of the company pairing off. He's barely able to see Fili and Kili flick him grins before the music picks up again and Thorin's hand is tight around his before suddenly they're moving, moving fast and furious and Bilbo is trying desperately to keep from blushing as Thorin eases them into the rhythm with clearly as much eye contact as he can manage! Their hands are held tight together as the dwarf twirls them around the fire with Bilbo stumbling to keep up, and the other couples follow in an anti-clockwise direction. Bilbo laughs as he trips his way after the king and Thorin's hand settles with a better grip on his back until Bilbo is suddenly pulled extremely close to Thorin. But just as he opens his eyes to focus more on the dwarf's face, Thorin lets go of his waist and he's suddenly scooped up in Dwalin's arms. Dwalin's hands take up Thorin's original position and he briefly looks over Dwalin's shoulder to see Kili taking his place with Thorin before he reluctantly continues to dance with his new partner. He's not too badly shocked when he's passed on to Nori, pleasantly surprised with Dori, and then laughing as he crashes into Fili who joins in with his own maniac laugh as he links their arms and moves them around in a circle before he's flung back to Thorin who smiles down at him.

"Enjoying this, Halfling?" he asks, voice raised over the music and Bilbo manages a small nod before a new hand is on his elbow and he's dragged away.

Then the tempo is ridiculously fast now and if it was a blur before it's beyond one now as he loses track of who's touching him. He has no idea where he is moving anymore as the beat of the music spreads through him, and he blindly reaches out as arms link in his and he allows himself to be twisted into a circle before he throws his hand out and someone grabs it to drag him across the ground. He only really registers Thorin, when the king pulls him from where he's undoubtedly floundering amongst them all, as the others laughter all sound so alike as well as the way they all dance. But Thorin seems to have a sort of grace despite the kind of foolish dancing they're doing, and his laughter is always more rich and an uncommon sound amongst the normal ruckus. But Bilbo grins more when Thorin grabs him, and he ignores the not-so-subtle "Shall I be calling you _Uncle_ Baggins?" from Kili as he pulls Bilbo in a twirl together before pushing him away into the next person. Bilbo shakes it off though, losing himself in the foreign yet joyful movements despite the fact he's tripping over his feet and being picked up more times than he can count. 

It's not until the music comes to an abrupt ending, thanks to Ori accidentally tripping over Bofur and slamming into Bombur, followed by him smashing headlong into someone followed very quickly by them _both_ crashing to the ground, that the laughter stops and the small daze he's fallen into dissipates.

Thorin's dark eyes looking up at him with a mixture of exasperation and fondness makes him squeak, and with a blush so mighty and no small amount of unintelligible words Bilbo scrambles off him and tumbles to the ground on his bottom.

"T-Thorin!" he gasps, hard of breath and unable to look the other in the eye. The loud chuckles sound out around the campfire as cool grey wisps of the dwarves breaths fill the suddenly still air, and Bilbo glares at them before a hand is grasping his and yanking him to his feet, making him lose his balance on his already jelly like legs and tumble into a large chest.

"Little One," Thorin chuckles, his chest rumbling against Bilbo's cheek, "you seem unsteady on your feet."

Bilbo blushes as he pushes away and gives him a glare than has no menace to it. "It's very hard to keep up with you dwarves," he huffs, "especially with no idea of where I am to put my feet. I spent more time in the air than actually dancing!"

Thorin looks affronted for a moment before a grin comes on his face and Bilbo squeaks when the dwarf yanks him close. "Well, you best stand on my feet for this next one," Thorin says as he lifts Bilbo with one arm and plops him on top of Thorin's boots, "because the foot work is a lot harder."

Bilbo doesn't have time to argue as Thorin clasps one of his hands and wraps the other around Bilbo's waist before he starts to move. He quickly scrambles to grip Thorin's shoulder tightly, and Thorin snorts at his grumbling as the Company picks up a tune once more.

Oh, it's indecent alright to be standing on Thorin's feet a if he is merely a hobbitling learning to dance, but he shamefully admits to himself that he really _is_ a hobbitling attempting to learn a dwarven dance so he swallows his pride and clings to Thorin as he waits for the beat to increase.

He blushes right to the tips of his ears and roots of his hair when he realizes its a _slow song_ , and those _never_ have hard footwork. Dwalin is rocking Ori around in a circle beside them, Bofur has a tight grasp on Nori, Fili and Kili are giggling as they waltz about, and even Dori and Oin are swinging each other. He glances up at Thorin, but Thorin only gives him a small smile as Bilbo struggles for words.

The tune does pick up after a few beats though, and Bilbo decides to just lie his head against Thorin's chest and relax into the dance. If the king so obviously wants to dance with him, then so be it. He's not complaining. He doesn't have to do anything except readjust his feet on Thorin's every now and again, so otherwise he's at peace just settling against Thorin as he's danced around the campfire. Thorin drops his head to rest on top of Bilbo's, and Bilbo smiles softly as he hides his face against Thorin's chest.

They dance for a surprisingly long time but Bilbo doesn't mind at all. Thorin is ridiculously comfortable and he smells ever so nice, and Bilbo is certain he could stay like this for a long time if he were allowed. Eventually though, the tune drifts off and Thorin pulls away to smile down at him.

"I cannot carry you, Bilbo," he says softly and Bilbo rolls his eyes.

"Then put me down," he mumbles, and another blush appear on his cheeks at the affectionate smile Thorin gives him before Thorin is walking him across the campsite and dropping him to the ground rather unceremoniously, thankfully on his already spread-out bedroll. After a moment of disbelief, Bilbo manages to wriggle around and glare up at the dwarf king.

He's stopped from saying anything rude though as Fili and Kili drop down on either side of him, breathless, grinning, and almost as red as Bilbo.

"Did you enjoy that Bilbo? Some good ol' dwarven culture?" Kili asks, eyes bright with excitement, and Bilbo is surprised to see Thorin reach out and ruffle both his nephew's hair.

"Allow him to catch his breath, boys. I don't believe he is used to such a large amount of dancing."

"I'm a hobbit," he practically wheezes out in protest, his chest still aches from the vigorous dance from before, and his statement earns him a raised eyebrow in response. "We dance quite a lot."

"Only when drunk though, dear Bilbo," Gandalf calls out from his seat. All eyes are on him instantly, making him shift uncomfortably as the dwarves all laugh at his put out expression. Soon after though, they all begin to disperse and return to their bedrolls as they camp back down for the night. Bilbo expects the brothers to leave as well, but instead Kili merely gets up and draggs Fili's bedroll over to him before snuggling into it with his brother, both of them curling up beside Bilbo.

Bilbo is a bit stunned. But he says nothing of it as he just watches everyone settle into their bedrolls and Nori wanders off to take first watch.

"They hold you in very high esteem," Thorin's voice breaks through the silent air a little later after returning from a discussion with Nori and Bilbo jumps. He'd thought he was the only other person awake and he looks away from the brothers nestled up to him to see the dwarf king smiling slightly as he drops his bedroll beside Bilbo and sits on the other side of him.

"Is it Durin family night or something? Am I intruding? Because I was here first-"

"Depends," Thorin interrupts, "do you consider yourself our family Mister Baggins?" 

Bilbo has to look away, the smoldering look in Thorin's eyes too much for him to look at and he just peeks up at him from under his eyelashes. The dwarf smiles though, wriggling slightly so he is more comfortable before speaking again. 

"Thank you for participating tonight. They have all missed the dances of our ancestors."

"You dance a lot like us hobbits."

Thorin chuckles and looks away towards the embers of the burnt down campfire, barely giving off a small glow. "Aye, we do. But a large majority of all races dances are similar, we just have small variations that make them unique to us all," he smiles at Bilbo, "except of course the hobbit dances. We don't know much about them."

Bilbo blushes again, and is horrified at how much he is _blushing_ tonight, and offers the dwarf his own smile. "They mainly involve dancing on tables, mostly the Tooks really. Crazy lot they are."

"I heard Gandalf mention you are a Took."

Bilbo just looked down at his hands, beyond embarrassed. It really had been a stupid thing to say.

"I would like to learn these dances," Thorin continues though, and Bilbo's face is beyond pink and instead a burning red when the dwarf's hand slips over his and squeezes it slightly as Thorin turns a very soft and warm smile onto him. "When this is all over, maybe you could teach me?"

There is an obvious invitation there, and Bilbo swears that his heart flutters at the thought of dancing again with Thorin. He loves those arms around him, that head resting on his, and with a huge grin, he looks up.

"Of course," he says a little breathlessly, and Thorin gives him another small smile before he drops their entwined hands down between them with no clear indication that he is willing to let go.

Bilbo doesn't mind, he realizes as he too slips further into his bed roll and turns to curl towards Thorin, especially if it's Thorin's hand he's holding.

**Author's Note:**

> Not my best work, but gosh I needed to write something delightfully light and fluffy after that emotional hell hole called Open Your Eyes. I still can't believe I wrote that!
> 
> [my tumblr (where I cry about stuff a lot XD)](http://resacon1990.tumblr.com/)


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